Special counsel Jack Smith on Wednesday asked a federal appeals court to halt his appeal of President-elect Donald Trump’s impeachment. the case of classified documents.

The movement is part of Smith’s Scrolling down of his two cases against Trump — the classified documents case and the federal election interference case — because of the Justice Department’s longstanding policy barring a sitting president from being prosecuted while in office.

“As a result of the November 5, 2024 election, one of the defendants in this case, Donald J. Trump, is expected to be certified as President-elect on January 6, 2025 and inaugurated on January 20, 2025,” the filing said.

Smith asked to stay the appeal and push the next filing deadline to Dec. 2 to “allow the government time to evaluate this unprecedented circumstance and determine the appropriate course going forward in accordance with Department of Justice policy.”

trump card pleaded not guilty last year to 40 criminal charges related to his handling of classified material after leaving the White House, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information and took steps to counter the government’s efforts to recover the documents.

U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, dismissed the case against Trump and his co-defendants this summer, ruling that Smith’s appointment as special counsel was unconstitutional because he was not appointed by the president or confirmed by Congress.

Prosecutors then appealed that decision to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta.

The judge in Trump’s federal election interference case interrupted all subsequent terms in this case last week, following a request from Smith.